I Can’t Chase This Dream Without You

Everybody loves the highlight reel of entrepreneurship. The booth photos, the road trips, the “we’re chasing a dream” energy. What people don’t see is who’s back home keeping the whole machine running when one of you leaves and the bills, chores, pets, and a one-year-old tornado don’t pause.

My wife joins me to tell the other side of the story: the chaos coordinator life, the extra responsibilities that land on one person’s shoulders, and the surprising ways role reversals can build real respect. We talk honestly about marriage and small business stress, financial pressure, and how simple things like a text message can turn into a fight when you’re both exhausted and trying to hold it together. You’ll hear our take on why relationships are 100% and 100%, not 50-50, and how “uncomfortable conversations” keep resentment from taking root.

We also get into the practical side of making this work, from carving out a dedicated home office to planning the next events on the road as a family. If you’re balancing a startup, a side hustle, work from home life, or parenting with ambition, this one hits the real stuff: teamwork, perspective, and the village it takes to keep a dream alive.

If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with someone building something hard, and leave a review with the biggest lesson you’re taking into your own relationship.

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Transcript

Setting Up The Perspective Shift

SPEAKER_08 0:00

For the past few weeks here on Share the Struggle Podcast, we talked about Loud Proud American and the journey to Daytona Bike Week. We talked about the sacrifice, the challenges, the triumph, and the results. This week we flipped the script just a little bit as we listen to what life is like on the other side, what life is like for the loved ones in your life that sacrifice for you to chase that dream in your life. This week on Share the Struggle Podcast, I will be joined by my lovely and beautiful wife as we talk about the challenges, the difficulties, and the sacrifices of being married to a nut job like myself who's chasing this dream with a relentless commitment. Let me tell you something. Everybody struggles. The difference is some people choose to go through it and some choose to grow through it. The choice is completely yours. Which one you choose will have a very profound effect on the way you live your life. If you find strength in the struggle, then this podcast is for you. Have a relationship that is comfortable with uncomfortable conversations. Uncomfortable conversations challenge you, humble you, and build you. What it do, what it do, what it hot, did it it do? Almighty. Am I so excited to be joined by you? Oh, it's true. It's damn true. Welcome to the podcast, boo.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Thanks. Here I am.

SPEAKER_08 2:20

Eating ice cream.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

At eleven o'clock at night. Yep.

SPEAKER_08 2:24

It's well, it's actually past eleven o'clock. And it's been one of those days here at Liberty Ponderosa.

SPEAKER_03 2:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 2:36

We're just gonna do a quick screenshot before we move on. What time did you wake me up this morning? And you're like, oh, I can't sleep. And you kept rolling around and just throwing all the blankets around and informing me every four seconds you couldn't sleep. Any idea what time that might have been? I don't recall at what time it was. I looked at the clock and said, Oh, that's unfortunate. Let me now be awoken with you.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

I think it was two.

SPEAKER_08 3:02

Yeah, that was lovely. I loved all of that. I actually went to sleep.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

I started doing research because I was wide awake.

SPEAKER_08 3:09

We fell asleep with a little one, and you were offended that I asked you to remove her for my dead arm because I had lost feeling and blood flow. And you put her to bed. I remember dozing off, waking up, looking at the clock, and going, Oh my god, it's only like 12 30. That was glorious. I'm gonna have the greatest night's sleep. Then only to segue to be a couple hours later.

SPEAKER_07 3:33

Can't sleep.

SPEAKER_08 3:35

I'm not able to sleep. I can't sleep.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

First of all, I don't sound like that.

SPEAKER_08 3:41

You do at that time of the night.

SPEAKER_02 3:43

And number two, you ever think that maybe I was trying to wake you up because you were snoring?

SPEAKER_08 3:48

I don't want to hear it. So I get up, go to the bathroom, take a shit. No, I didn't take a shihatsu.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

And I um this is the listeners don't believe you.

SPEAKER_08 4:00

Well, the listeners should believe me because they've listened to me for almost 300 episodes. Believe that?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

But if they could smell you, they'd think otherwise.

SPEAKER_08 4:08

Watch your mouth. So I'm getting back into the routine here, and this was the first time I had to get up at 5 a.m. in a while to bring my mom to work.

SPEAKER_01 4:19

I know, you told me. In a month.

SPEAKER_08 4:22

So whenever you have to do that and you're not in a rhythm, you check the clock every half an hour. You know what I mean? So you disturbed my opportunity to make it to four o'clock before my 20 to 30 minute increments of sleep. So that started all evening. It was windy as all wind can get last night, too.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

It was pretty Yeah, we were in a warnado.

SPEAKER_08 4:47

Yeah, definitely a warnado. Brought my mom to work, came home, started doing some work, and then I was like, well, I gotta do the chores sooner than later because I gotta I know I have to patch the fence at some point. Came in here, tried to catch a little nap with the kiddo, but she was already awake.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Mm-hmm. 7 30.

SPEAKER_08 5:07

Which started her on a whirlwind of chaos. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:13

Uncontrolled chaos.

SPEAKER_08 5:16

If I have those days where I get my mom to work in the morning, I can catch one of those babies' naps and get on that train, like get some work done, work a few hours before she wakes up, then do her morning routine, whatever, and then I'm starting to fade when she's taking a nap, and I can I can punch a clock on a good quick nap with the baby. Not today, Satan.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

I'm jealous.

SPEAKER_08 5:41

No sleeping today. She wanted to take a nap right before it was time to go get Mima from work, and that disturbed everything. No naps, no naps. All day. She took about a 10-minute nap on the ride home, and uh that was it.

SPEAKER_03 6:01

That girl, I'm just gonna say this. She is our kid, hands down, and and she gets that from us, okay.

SPEAKER_02 6:13

If you do recall, back in the day, you and I used to go to work, and then we would have friends be like, yo, we're going out, and we'd be like, All right, no problem. We'd come home, you'd shower shit and shave.

SPEAKER_08 6:29

I don't shave.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Okay, well, maybe you feathered your pubes, whatever.

SPEAKER_08 6:33

Maybe I shave my arms, call that.

SPEAKER_02 6:35

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_08 6:36

Keep it PG. Keep it PG.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

And then we would maybe sit on the couch for 10 minutes, catch a quick 10-minute power and app, and boom, we were ready for hours of drinking.

SPEAKER_08 6:49

I remember just coming home, falling flat on my face on the bed, sleeping for 20 minutes, getting up, being like, okay, I'm good.

SPEAKER_01 6:56

That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_08 6:57

Well, she does that.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 7:00

Yeah, because she takes that 10, 5, 10 minute nap, and she is ready to destroy the house.

SPEAKER_08 7:07

I remember our plan. You had said, hey, let's do the podcast together. I'm gonna bring her to the store. I'll keep her awake. She's gonna want to pass out. We just put her to bed.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

Mm-hmm. And I got home before nine o'clock.

SPEAKER_08 7:20

I just watched the entire finale of the World Baseball Classic, disappointed, not a fan, just saying, but I've managed to get in an entire baseball game with her still partying. During this time.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

She's a champ.

SPEAKER_08 7:34

During this time, you lost a dog.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

I didn't lose a fucking dog.

SPEAKER_08 7:39

Hey. Watch it.

SPEAKER_03 7:42

I'm about to snap a dog's neck.

SPEAKER_08 7:45

I'm about to trade that dog for a box of beans. He's a moron.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Yeah. But before we get to all that and you're dealing with your chaotic nonsense, I was fighting with a coat rack out in my office.

SPEAKER_08 8:00

I texted you and asked if you were running a sander. It sounded like chaotic.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

Oh no. Oh no. I was about to send your drill through the roof.

SPEAKER_08 8:09

Well, I don't know what my drill did to deserve any of this abuse.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

It wouldn't hold on to my screw.

SPEAKER_08 8:15

It wouldn't screw, huh?

SPEAKER_02 8:16

You know what? This is what happened. I got so frustrated that I started yelling.

SPEAKER_08 8:22

I can't believe it.

SPEAKER_02 8:23

I'm sure you probably heard that before you heard the sander.

SPEAKER_08 8:26

No, I was like, what is that noise?

SPEAKER_02 8:28

In my words, exactly. I said, not everything has to be a test. I'm just trying to hang a damn curtain rod.

SPEAKER_08 8:39

I love that you experienced this and you felt this because anytime you ask me to do something and I start doing it and it's not going right, you always come in. Why is everything gotta be such a project with Yale? So all that actually and um enjoy it.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

It was your fault, actually.

SPEAKER_08 8:58

I hung your freaking stupid dry erase board in the wrong spot. No, you asked me to put it there. That's the exact spot I could put it in based off the hinges that are supposed to be there. And when you came in and I was still working on it 20 minutes later complaining about it, you were like, this guy. Why is everything always so dramatic? Guess what, Cinderella?

SPEAKER_03 9:20

I don't sound like that.

SPEAKER_08 9:21

You did one thing I would do, and it was dramatic.

SPEAKER_03 9:27

Uh oh. It was dramatic out there. Trust me. It was criminal what I did. Any construction site, I would have been thrown out.

SPEAKER_08 9:36

I've never heard a drill sound like a sander, but I was like, what is that noise? I walk to the bathroom and I'm listening. And I was like, sanding? I thought maybe you got into some new staining project. Like you assumed my staining of the office wasn't up to your standards.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

Nope. That damn screw gun is magnetic.

SPEAKER_08 10:00

Right.

SPEAKER_03 10:01

And my screw kept sticking to the end of it.

SPEAKER_08 10:05

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

And I was in such a lopsided of a position.

SPEAKER_08 10:11

Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

Meanwhile, holding up the dry erase board on my head.

SPEAKER_08 10:16

Been there.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Under under it, trying to screw it in. And every time I would go to put pressure on it, it would fall off.

SPEAKER_06 10:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:25

So I just kept swearing at this thing, and I said, you know what? F off. There was a giant hammer sitting right next to me.

SPEAKER_08 10:34

And I said, Pounded the screw into the screw.

SPEAKER_02 10:37

This is a screw. But I don't give a shit. I started it.

SPEAKER_08 10:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

Just started it. That's better. After four times of dropping it, and no, I'm not exaggerating or being dramatic. After four times of dropping it, I kicked my file cabinet, I punched my wall, and I almost threw your screw gun. I said, Good. No, not today, Satan.

SPEAKER_08 10:58

So I sounds pretty smooth.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

Tapped it in. Just tapped it in. Slightly.

SPEAKER_08 11:05

I'm glad you you figured it out. And then the sander was You gave that sucker full throttle.

SPEAKER_02 11:13

What kept happening is it's the right bit, but every time I would like give her the juice, it would slide off and not click in. Those bits are. So I said, you know what? It'll clip onto something.

SPEAKER_08 11:24

Those those bits are the cheesy soft steel bits that No, I use the new ones that I just got you. Then maybe they have shit screws that were in there. Probably because it came up with it. Yeah. And I use real screws.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yeah, that's what I had.

SPEAKER_02 11:43

But moral of the story, my curtain rods are up and uh And the screws will never come out.

SPEAKER_08 11:52

And no equipment was in the making of the To remove the curtain rod, I will have to shorten the shelf. Actually, no with a skill saw because those screws will never come out.

SPEAKER_02 12:05

No, not true. They didn't strip it at all actually.

SPEAKER_08 12:08

The heads aren't totally garbage.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

No, because I had to pull them out and do it six times. No, twice.

SPEAKER_08 12:14

Gotcha. Alright.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

So that all happened while you were dealing with utter chaos up here.

Home Projects And Losing The Dog

What Spouses Carry When You Leave

SPEAKER_08 12:19

So we had all that you had a rehab situation in there. Rehab. Rehab, reboot. DI we're rehabbing your farm stand into an office. So yeah. I'm so excited. Uh dog escapes the premises. It's um it's been a time. We're uh 11 30 p.m. getting ready to try to drop this episode, and we had we had planned for I would I'll just come out and say it. We planned for a much longer episode than what we're gonna deliver. But here's where we're at, okay? Here's where we're at. We're gonna finish this thing talking about your office as we segue to that. But I wanted to have you on here today to talk a little bit about what it's like on the other side, on the other side of the dream, on the other side of the journey, where over the past few weeks I talk about going to Daytona. I talk about all that's involved in it, the you know, the financial commitment, the time commitment, the um everybody that has to pitch in, you know, the people that are that are going, the people that are pulling the weight for us to go, the sacrifices that are made, the changes to routines, picking up um, you know, what other people's tasks are, the whole thing that goes into it, right? So it's not only just me being away from the house, it's like all my responsibilities falling on you. So I think it's important for people out there listening to hear like the other side of that story for multiple reasons, right? For people to understand when you're an entrepreneur, when you're chasing a dream or a passion, it does take a village and to understand how everybody feels about that and to give credit to the people that help along the way. You know what I mean? So I think it's good to have that perspective and insight. So um, if you just want to take it for a minute and just kind of talk about what it was like for you with me being gone and um how we kind of make this work together scenario, you know?

SPEAKER_02 14:14

Yeah, I like to call myself the chaos coordinator.

SPEAKER_08 14:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

That's me. That's me. I have a cup to prove it. It's up in the cabinet.

SPEAKER_08 14:20

You do have a chaos cup. Do you also have any ice cream left in that?

SPEAKER_02 14:23

I do. Would you like me to share?

SPEAKER_08 14:24

Well, since we're gonna do some talking, I'm gonna add some cheesecake. Don't mind me.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Okay. Um, so the little bit of uh beginning portion of the show where you were talking about the kid and doing all the nonsense. Chaos. Yeah, that's pretty much what it was like while you were gone. It's pretty chaotic. But let's be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't. I am.

SPEAKER_06 14:57

Have you had have you had some?

SPEAKER_02 15:02

I feel like I strive on the chaos because I'm so used to the chaos that when it's quiet or nothing's going on, like I'm my brain's like, what are you doing? Why are you not doing something?

SPEAKER_08 15:19

Is that why you're trying to get me to leave again next week?

SPEAKER_02 15:21

No. I just gave you permission to leave. You can leave whenever you want. You just can't leave me. That's a death sentence on you, not me.

SPEAKER_08 15:33

I was finishing your ice cream.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

So yeah, I mean, it's a lot um on one person, but like you said, it's uh we have a village, um, and you know, there's people around that always, you know, ask for help and stuff, but you just sort of get used to what needs to be done and you just take care of it. Like that's how I was raised. Like something needs to be done, just get it done. Um but yeah, I mean, we're not only am I running this household while you're gone, um, I'm running the farm. We have the extra dog now. We have a mobile, very mobile one-year-old.

SPEAKER_08 16:14

Sassaphras.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_08 16:17

I came home to a child with a southern accent. I don't know how. I was in the south, I come back, and the child has a southern accent.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

It's great. Um, but yeah, I mean, it's crazy, yeah, but awesome at the same time.

SPEAKER_08 16:37

Well, I'm glad you feel that way.

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 16:41

Do you think that um I don't want to answer this for you, so I'm gonna say do you think me being away gives you any respect for what I do or appreciation for what I do when I am here?

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Of course, yeah.

SPEAKER_08 16:59

Because I think that I think it's great for couples in this situation because when you do what the other person does, I think you gain an appreciation for what they do. And then when you're the person that leaves, and then you come home feeling guilty to have not been doing what you normally would do, then you start trying to do what the other person would do. So I just feel like when those roles change, it's an opportunity for both people to form appreciation.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

Maybe I need to go away.

SPEAKER_08 17:34

Yeah, knock yourself out.

SPEAKER_02 17:36

Maybe you'll appreciate what I do.

Respect Grows When Roles Flip

SPEAKER_08 17:38

I'm not saying that I don't, but I'm saying like it's a unique scenario where I'm a stay-at-home dad and trying to run a business a lot of the time, right? So for you to like you're staying home and running a like you're you're working from home and you're taking care of the kid and everything at the same time, like I just think that it gives you a feeling of like what I would say I have for frustration sometimes. You know what I mean? I think it allows for any couple, it allows them to see the other person's point of view as to what their frustrations might be. Like you picked up my whole routine, right? Bringing my mom to work, like when I would do certain things, like you picked up my stuff along with your stuff, and then there's times when like when I'm gone, you start thinking about like the fact that you're doing my workload and your workload, and you come home with a new appreciation for what you've done, you know what I'm saying? And then you try to help out in other areas. So I just think overall, for anybody, anyone's relationship, I think it's very beneficial, ironically, that we we do this where you take on the other person's responsibilities. I think it's I think it's good.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

I think we've talked about it in many other episodes. Like a relationship is always going to be 100%, 100%, not 50-50, where a lot of people actually like say that their relationship is 50%, 50%. Because here's the deal like, if I only put in 50%, where am I at?

SPEAKER_08 19:05

Nothing worth uh working for and achieving and things that you desire and dream for, you're ever gonna attain with only 50% effort. It just doesn't, it just doesn't work.

SPEAKER_02 19:16

I had watched a video um at one point and it had mentioned um it kind of put put that into perspective. Um, and it's also something that you know my grandma had always said, like you said, you're never gonna get anywhere with 50%. However, if you think about it this way, if you're at 100% all the time, okay, and let's just say tomorrow I don't have a hundred percent. Tomorrow maybe I got 75 because I'm just not feeling well, I'm just not feeling it, but you're at a hundred percent. So that way it kind of evens out.

SPEAKER_08 19:55

Right.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

Because if I'm at 50% and you're maybe at 20% that day, you know what I mean? You're not gonna get to that hundred percent, you're you're not gonna fill that gap. So um I think you know, we definitely help each other out all the time. Right. Um, when it comes to, you know, when you're on the road or when you're when you're home, we it just all about good communication and a good a good team, I guess.

SPEAKER_08 20:26

I think the big thing for me that I realized since having Paisley and going on the road and like our routines changing and everything is that so many couples that are having difficult times, one of the big sticking points is you don't understand what I do. Right? Like I think most couples break up for a few reasons. Number one is probably financial, right? Everybody that's like all married couples argue about finances, communication, communication, those things, but it's also an understanding where people don't feel appreciated and they don't feel understood, and part of that is you just don't get it. You know what I mean? Yeah, for relationships, like you just don't get it. You don't know how bad my work is, you don't know how difficult my schedule is, you don't know how it is for me to go to work and do my stuff and come home and then try to be, you know, a good, a good partner and a good parent. They always feel like left on an island. And for us, it's unique because it's not like now either one of us leave and do a job elsewhere. You know what I'm saying? So it's not like I go punch a clock at a dealership anymore. Right. It's not like you're going to punch a clock at a medical office anymore. We literally can see and feel what the other person's going through because we see everybody's day to day.

SPEAKER_07 21:50

Right.

SPEAKER_08 21:50

So my point that I'm making is when I go away, you ultimately know everything that I'm doing, but you also take on all of my tasks. So I can't come home and say to you in six months, you just don't get it. You don't understand how much I do around here. Because you just had to do it. You plowed the driveway, you did the chores, like so there's a great understanding there. And I think that like you can't say to me, like, you don't understand what it's like to clean this house and take care of this kid all day and try to work. Because I do that too. I think we're very fortunate. It's a weird scenario that we have, but the more I think about it, I think it's fortunate because we both have an understanding of what it takes for this family to work and what it takes for us to to you know do what we want to do, where most couples don't have that. There's resentment that comes from people that are like, You have no idea how tough my job is. You know what I'm saying? Couples always argue about that, I feel like. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04 22:51

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_08 22:52

And for us, it's like, no, you actually get to experience it. So if there's couples out there that are struggling with some of that stuff, putting yourself in a position that helps you understand what your partner actually goes through, I think is I think is helpful. And I feel like in a roundabout way, this has done that. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 23:07

But it's also important to be a team player of your relationship, right? Like you, it's okay to not be okay and not be able to put in a hundred percent every day, but the moment that you know you just kind of dismiss that all the time, then you need to reevaluate the situation. Like, how how do you help your partner get through what they're dealing with? You know what I mean? Because, like, yeah, they very well could have a tough job at work, but like you have to be there to pick them up when they're down, right? And and and I think we do a really good job at that.

Communication Under Money Stress

SPEAKER_08 23:47

Like and that person also has to have the understanding of like, and this is where I think a lot of people go wrong, and I used to struggle with this in a career that I didn't like. You would come home angry and then not turn off the angry, you know what I'm saying? So you're you're punishing the people that are close to you for reasons that are completely out of their control, but you start justifying it as, well, I go to work and I'm miserable because I'm trying to provide for you, and then you start taking it out on each other, you know what I mean? So I think it's to your point on the communication, not only being there for each other, but holding each other accountable too, to the sense of like don't take that shit out on me, man. Right. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 24:26

We've had those conversations, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_08 24:28

We've both been in careers we just weren't we just weren't happy. I think it's also funny when the roles get flipped and then you find something you actually enjoy doing that the other person does.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_08 24:43

I think I know one that you picked up that maybe you might have done more than you even needed to.

SPEAKER_02 24:50

Oh, you mean blowing?

SPEAKER_08 24:52

Yeah. I think you enjoyed plowing snow a little bit more than you anticipated.

SPEAKER_02 24:59

Yeah, because you know what I enjoy a lot is mud season. And it's very similar to that.

SPEAKER_08 25:09

Oh my god, you do love mud season. I hate mud season.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

I love mud season because I like to make those little rivers. And it's very like time consuming, yeah. But it's very like relaxing at the same time, which is like odd. That's probably sounding. But it's also like time consuming because like if I just like with my water puddles, rivers, if I don't move this pile, then it's not gonna flow properly. Or and it's the same thing with the snow. Like, if I don't move this, then I can't get to that pile, and so it just very much uh ADHD friendly.

SPEAKER_08 25:52

Well, I'm thankful that I wish I would have known sooner because there's many times when I had deadlines and things to do, but I was like, Well, here it goes five hours of me moving snow in the driveway. Now I know, like, oh, your turn, you're gonna have at it.

SPEAKER_02 26:05

Yeah. So I like it. That was fun.

SPEAKER_08 26:07

It's kind of funny though to think like that certain things you're like, you know, wouldn't you even think to do, then you get forced to do them and you're like, oh, it's justn't that bad. I don't mind this. It's also, I will say, when you have like a week of doing it, pretty cool. When it's like months and it seems like every day you're out there, then you can kind of be over there.

SPEAKER_02 26:23

I mean, it will be nice knowing that like next year, like we have the plow truck and we also have the um the bucket loader, so you can like move. We can be both doing um snow road.

SPEAKER_08 26:35

With the plow truck, I don't need to be on the bucket loader.

SPEAKER_02 26:37

Yeah, you do to get to the barn.

SPEAKER_08 26:40

No.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

Because I'm not going off the road.

SPEAKER_08 26:43

Yeah. I totaled one truck off that road, I'm not doing it again.

SPEAKER_02 26:46

I know, that's why you use the bucket loader.

SPEAKER_08 26:48

That's why that one's still over there. Because it pulled the bucket loader out and still sitting in the puckies.

SPEAKER_01 26:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 26:53

That's a time for a different day. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

We've talked about it.

SPEAKER_08 26:57

Yeah, we have.

SPEAKER_01 26:58

Time to roll her over the scales.

SPEAKER_08 27:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

Anyway.

Supporting The Dream Without Resentment

SPEAKER_08 27:04

So I like I've said before, and and I don't know if you've caught up on the episodes, but um I thanked you before for giving me the opportunity to do this, whether I whether I fail or succeed, you know, and we have those we have tense conversations as well when I'm out there, because you know, I also think that text is left for interpretation. And, you know, I could be like, for example, for what we're going through, is I'm stating just realistic facts, and you think that I'm pissed off and angry and upset about it, and then you're like, Well, you're not gonna sell anything with that attitude, so there's there's all those frustrations, but it's like it puts all the stress on a relationship because you're here holding down all the responsibilities that you do, plus what I do, the family dynamic, the work, the everything. And you're like, hey, you're leaving us behind to go do this, and then you're gonna complain to me. And on my side, it's like I'm away from my entire family, and I'm sleeping on a flat ass air mattress in the middle of a pontoon over here, and I'm not making money, I'm away from my family, and I'm not paying bills. Those those stressors and that element is very difficult on a on a family to get to get through. But I always feel that those things make you stronger as well, when you can when you can kind of figure those things those things out too, you know. So I just think that number one, being there for me and being supportive and helping me through those those times and giving me that that opportunity, um, you know, it's obviously something that I that I greatly appreciate and that the business wouldn't be continuing if you didn't feel that way, right?

SPEAKER_02 28:49

I mean, there's a lot of those but it's uh it's a dream of yours, and I think it's important for you to follow that dream, and we've talked about it a hundred times. Yeah, I mean, there's times that we're like, what are we doing?

SPEAKER_06 29:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Like this isn't this is not where we need it to be. This is not where we thought it would be, but it's one of those things that's like I'm gonna support you whether you keep your business open or you close it. Like, whatever you do, like we're a family and we have to make that decision together, you know? Um, so it's just one of those things that um you've stood by me with all my crazy ideas and um dreams, and it's only fair for me to do the same for you.

SPEAKER_08 29:31

I think we've hit a very difficult patch for the business, but I feel like, especially coming off of this last trip, my eyes are open to a maybe an entirely different avenue that we never really expected. And that's part of being in business, is just kind of rolling with it and and you know, letting those doors open and exploring those things and seeing what um what happens. And this year we're throwing down a lot of challenges to do a lot of things outside of our um our comfort zone, which is going to be a challenge for the family. But we know that this is like the year to do that. It's frustrating because I haven't heard back on many of those, so that's like, you know, one of the another big difficult step that we're trying to navigate as well. But I'm saying these things to say that to me, I felt that you gave me this opportunity and you put a lot of what you needed to do on the back burner for me to be there. You know what I mean? And you took on my load, and I felt like it. I don't know if you felt this way with me coming home, but I came home and said to myself, like, well, I can put some of my shit on the backborn burner right now and make sure that the priority is for you to do some things that you wanted to do that you couldn't do, right? Like, I'm gonna take care of the kid and do this stuff so that you can work and get caught up, and you know, I'm gonna do this and I'm gonna take my Saturday and just take care of the kids so you can start your project or whatever. Like, I I felt like I needed to do that for you because you did that for me, you know what I mean? And I think that as long as relationships are reciprocal and they feel that way with each other, then I think that you know that give and take is what makes it work, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Mm-hmm. I agree. But I mean it's all about you know putting things on hold in order to maybe make your partner lead in the race.

SPEAKER_06 31:22

Yeah.

The New Office And Regaining Focus

SPEAKER_02 31:23

And then, you know, when when your partner is up there, then they're gonna reciprocate that energy and and do that for you. Like if you have um a goal or you know, something you're you're striving to do, or you know, pivot or whatnot. Like I think it's important for you guys to have like a cohesive team. Um one hand washes the other kind of thing. And uh yeah, I mean, I you came home and was like, listen, what's what's something that you you know, what's your plan for this weekend? Like, what do you want to do? Like, what is you know, what's a plan? And I said, I just am bound and determined to get into my office. Like, I wanna be in there on Monday. Like, I like you're like, this Monday? I'm like, yeah, Monday. Like I wanna move all my stuff in and I wanna I had already started moving all of my equipment and everything in there, uh, little by little while you were gone, but I never had the opportunity to kind of um like get in there like I wanted to to start organizing. Um so you know, that was really nice of you to allow me to take Saturday and Sunday. Whoa! Yeah, right. Mark it on the calendar.

SPEAKER_08 32:41

So I'm gonna whoop your ass.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Yeah, I'm saying something nice about you. So yeah, it was um it was good. And uh the day you're coming home. I think you texted me and you're like, I'm in New York. And I was like, Oh, cool, I'm at Walmart. Like, do you need anything? And you're like, uh no, I think I'm good. And I'm like, okay. I hang up the phone and I like find something on marketplace. And I said to your mom, and I was like, get in, we're going to buy something off marketplace.

SPEAKER_08 33:14

You weren't even at Walmart and you lied to me.

SPEAKER_02 33:16

No, I was at Walmart. Okay. I had to come home, I had milk and I had everything. So I had to, so I got home, dropped all my stuff off, and the person that I had been corresponding with all day um about my table, right, like finally messaged me back and was like, hey, listen, I'm so sorry. Um, like, we're moving today. So, like, I haven't been able to check my phone. And I was like, all right, no problem. Um, I'll uh I can be there in about 30 minutes. Like, I was like 30 minutes away from this from this guy, and so we dropped off the milk. I made the baby a bottle, and I drove 30 minutes away to buy a table. The guy was like the sweetest guy who's like in the army, and uh, I told him that I was gonna take his table, um, his farm stand table, and I was gonna put it in my farm stand. And he told me that um they were stationed uh in Maine, and that table was custom made for him by his mother-in-law, and it was given to him when he first got deployed. Oh wow, and then it went to the went with them to their um army base, or I'm not sure if it's really the army. Right, military base is military base, yes. Uh, in Texas, Arizona, and Tennessee, I think. So it had gone and he was like, We're building a brand new house. I have five kids. I we outgrew this one. We just want to know that it's um it's been used. Yeah. Uh I meant to send him a picture of it today because I was like, as soon as my office is set up, like I'll I'll send it to you. That's awesome. And it fits in my office absolutely perfect. Yeah, we're escaping. Absolutely perfect.

SPEAKER_08 34:55

The whole office itself came out fantastic. I feel like I'm super excited. Now you're still putting some finishing touches on there, but I was glad that you were able to knock that off the list and get in there and have some of that independence and yeah and and freedom and make it really feel official, you know.

SPEAKER_02 35:11

Yeah, and so I've had the opportunity the last two days to actually work in there, and it feels like you've talked about it before, like making it feel like you're going to work.

SPEAKER_01 35:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

So like I get up and I have my breakfast and then I make my coffee and I like go downstairs and take care of the dogs.

SPEAKER_08 35:30

Remove yourself from your comfort, you know what I mean? The couch.

SPEAKER_02 35:34

I have to walk outside in the elements. Day one, a complete rainstorm.

SPEAKER_08 35:40

I remember you were getting ready to work out there, and I was like, oh my god, it's absolutely pouring, and it was so loud. I was like, Well, we'll find out if we got any leaks in there.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

Yeah. Yep. So, um, and then today was a complete windstorm, but I've put up some curtains to block out the um air, and you know, it has some final touches that it needs, um, you know, looking for an all-in-one heating AC unit so I can use it in the summertime. But you're not super excited.

SPEAKER_08 36:09

Years ahead of the one that I have out there sitting there just holding boxes at this moment. I don't even know why I'm paying on that thing. That was a dumb idea.

SPEAKER_02 36:18

I love it. I love my office. It's so cute. I'm jealous. It's nice that I have like enough space that if Paisley has to join me, right? Like there's place there's a little cabinet area for her to put her toys in and stuff like that. So it's nice because not only do I use it for my business, um, like I can use it for my notary, um, your business. Um, if I'm booking any um travel plans or anything like that, things in one spot. And I've worked in um offices, medical offices since I got out of high school. Yep, 2010. Do the math on your hands, long time. Yeah. So every office that I went into, I collected office supplies because I love office supplies. Love them. Love them.

SPEAKER_08 37:08

You have an abundance.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

Like my favorite time of year is school season. Back to school. Back to school season. But it's after all the kids have gone back to school.

SPEAKER_08 37:19

Everything is on clearance. Everything's on clearance. Makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

Because all they want is all like the you know, Hello Kitty posters and all this kind of stuff. And I don't want any of that. Like, you can't.

SPEAKER_08 37:28

I need some good gel pans.

SPEAKER_02 37:30

Yes, you got it. So I have uh like totes of stuff, and it's perfect. But this is the first time ever in all the years that I've worked in an office that I've ever had all of my office stuff that I've collected over the years um in one spot. And the crazy thing is, is that everything that's like I'm picking up things like here and there to like final touches, but all the stuff that I have had is the same style that I'm in now. Like it's still very rustic, chic farmhouse kind of vibes with like a splash of pink.

SPEAKER_08 38:08

You ain't new to it, you've been true to it. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 38:10

Mm-hmm. Amen, sister.

Next Events And Road Life Plans

SPEAKER_08 38:12

Well, in true fashion for us, um, we might have had a a down week in between the chaos, but it's fixing to ramp up here again. Um, we're off to a new event, one we've never been to, never done before, a new avenue for us, and it's the three of us, you, me, and the little one, heading back on the road. Uh, we are heading to the Eastern Maine Sportsman Show. It is at the University of Maine Orino campus. So that's uh it's a bit of a drive. Yeah. Bit of a drive.

SPEAKER_02 38:45

You know what I'm excited about?

SPEAKER_08 38:47

Yes, I do actually. Tell the people.

SPEAKER_02 38:50

This is the first time we go to an event, and I don't have to haul.

SPEAKER_08 38:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

I can sit back and be a passenger princess for once.

SPEAKER_08 38:58

Yeah. So we're going to a sportsman show. We're excited about the possibility in this new demographic and market for us. I think it's going to fit in perfectly. If this goes well, then we'll look into doing more of these. But um, if anybody, any of our loyal listeners are in the Bangor area, the northern Maine area, please come on out and check us out. We'll be at the University of Maine Orino campus. We're gonna head out there on Thursday, and uh we'll be open Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday, and then we'll come on back home. And uh I'll talk a little bit about it next week, but I'm gonna be just found out partaking on a wild western adventure and flying to Texas next week.

SPEAKER_02 39:42

So yes, the wife is approved. This whole under one stipulation.

SPEAKER_08 39:48

Yes, I have to hang your TV in my office. Yeah, and um this is just a reciprocal friends helping friends scenario. Family helps you, you help family, it is what it is. So um, those times and those calls aren't always convenient, but you always have to do them. So um, little road adventure. I'll pick that up and tell that story down the road. But uh for us this week, heading to Bangor, next week, Texas, that is what it is, that's the life and times that we live, and it's rather fitting as we're having this conversation about me leaving, you taking care of the slack, picking those things up, and then me coming back, trying to, you know, give you the time to do what you need to do, and then and then compiled right in the middle with us taking the family on the road to chase the adventure, to chase the business, to hopefully have that work out, and then leave all the to-do list to my mom. You know what I mean? So it's a fun, reciprocal, takes a village type of vibe that we live over here, but this is the testimony of a small business. This is what it takes for a small business to operate. This is what it takes for uh small business in this day and time to uh survive, right? And for sure. I think it's there's fundamentals here, whether you're listening today's episode and you're you you know you're like, hey, I'm I don't run my own business, I don't work from home, I don't do those things. Well, there's some relationship lessons that happen in this conversation as well. And um I think it all goes it all goes hand in hand. What we talked about today, these these practices can be considered for uh for your you know a romantic relationship, a marriage, uh a friendship, these premises, these things all reflect well into that, right? However you want to look at it. Seeing things from other people's perspective, putting yourself in their position, um, being willing to put your feelings and your needs and wants and desires on the back burner for the good of somebody that you care about. Um I think that business and and and relationships that really go hand in hand, but I've said it over the past couple weeks. I know you really haven't had the time to listen to it, so I can say it to you to your face. Thank you for supporting me and allowing me to uh to do this. And I am rather confident that someday, one of these days, hopefully, in a near not so distant future, it'll pay off and it'll all be worth it.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

Maybe we'll see. 2026 seems like a good year.

SPEAKER_08 42:19

That seems so suspicious.

SPEAKER_02 42:21

Well, I guess you'll have to wait and find out.

SPEAKER_08 42:23

I guess so. But until then, it's midnight.

SPEAKER_02 42:27

Ugh.

SPEAKER_08 42:28

And I gotta edit this podcast. So um And I get to go work in my new office.

SPEAKER_07 42:33

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 42:34

Hey, love you bye.

SPEAKER_07 42:35

Thank you for supporting our American dream. My American dream and my new office. Our new office, which but I have the TV, I gotta hang.

SPEAKER_02 42:44

Now go wash your hands before you walk in my new office. Fell things savage.

Where To Follow And Final Thanks

SPEAKER_08 42:48

Dirty scoundrel. That's it, and that's all, Biggie Smalls. If you're a Loud Proud American and you find yourself just wanting more, find me on YouTube and Facebook at Loud Proud American Face page, as my mama calls it. If you're a fan of the Graham Crackin', you want to find me on Instagram for all the kids, the tickety talkin on the TikTok, you can find me on both of those at loud underscore proud underscore American. Big old thank you to the boys from the Gut Truckers for the background beats and the thing talk to their podcast. If you are enjoying what you're hearing, track down the gut truckers on Facebook Just Sir Gut Truckers, give that motherfucker. I like to make a thing.

unknown 44:03

Make it clean.

SPEAKER_05 44:05

I hate to say. I told you so.

unknown 44:13

Make it clean. I hate to say. I talk you so.

SPEAKER_08 44:20

I truly thank you for supporting my American dream. Now go wash your fucking hands, you filthy savage.